Category: Houses of Hospitality

Thoughts on theft

Yesterday afternoon, after helping a friend with computer troubles, I stopped by the old, now-empty Catholic Worker house on South Bend’s West Washington Street to do some yard work.

I threw my backpack against the side of the house and started cutting weeds. When I was ready to leave, I saw that my backpack was gone.

My friend helped me run around looking for it, and finally we found it down the alley, with the contents strewn about. My planner and library books were there, but my camera, iPod, and CD case had been stolen.

The iPod, with “Deus Caritas Est” printed on the side, was filled with Jesuit meditations from Pray-As-You-Go.

Among the stolen discs were data CDs with Brenna Cussen’s photos and PowerPoint presentation about her Darfur work, and a DVD with the first part of the documentary “The Power of Nightmares,” which traces the parallel histories of neo-conservatism and radical Islam.

So I figure that ten years from now, I’ll be listening to some international policy scholar from Harvard speaking, and he’ll say, “Well, the way I first got interested in politics was, I stole this guy’s backpack . . . .”
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Laissez Les Bon Temps Hoosier!

I’m at the South Bend Catholic Worker.

The community here occupies a rectory and two houses. There are a handful of guests (homeless and otherwise) and one or two Catholic Workers in each building.

The South Bend Tribune happens to have interviewed a couple of the Catholic Workers for an article in today’s paper about Deus Caritas Est:

There is a difference, [Mike Baxter] says, between “bourgeois do-goodiness” and truly seeking to “love thy neighbor.” When striving toward the latter, “you end up wanting and having to rearrange your life.”

Among other news I can share, seeing as it’s blogged elsewhere, Ms. Brenna Cussen is back from giving some talks at the Ekklesia Project, where her presentation was one of the “highlights.”


Mike Baxter and Brenna Cussen. South Bend Tribune photo/Su Anderson.

Catholic Worker gathering, Worcester

Group photoCatholic Workers across the country gathered in Worcester this weekend to celebrate the SS. Francis & Thérèse community’s 20th birthday. Here are my pictures.

Father Bernie prepares for massThe weekend closed with a mass celebrated by long-time Catholic Worker Father Bernie Gilgun. Fr Bernie turns 80 this week! The recessional hymn was “When the Saints Go Marching In,” which I was honored to perform with Harry Duchesne and the Catholic Worker All-Stars. Kevin Ksen took a video of part of it (AVI, 33MB).

Update: Here’s a 5MB video clip (MPEG4) I submitted to the local cable access news.

SS. Francis & Thérèse: The first 20 years

This article notes some of what happened at the Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker community in Worcester, Massachusetts, between 1986 and 2006. It first appeared in the June/July 2006 issue of The Catholic Radical. 52 Mason St, Worcester MA 01610 – 508.753.3588 – theresecw2@gmail.com.
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South Bend zoning news for May 2006

From today’s South Bend Tribune:

  • The Board of Zoning Appeals has approved of a request by the South Bend Catholic Worker to have their house at 515 S. St. Joseph Street be a group residence.
  • The BZA has denied a request by Opus Dei to raze a building, replace it with two smaller ones, and change the zoning. The article cites a laundry list of objections, but the one that leaps out at me is that the change would conflict with “neighborhood redevelopment plans.” Woe to anyone in South Bend who would make use of a lot in some way not envisioned by the neighborhood redevelopment plan. What would Jane Jacobs think of this foolishness?

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Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker, Worcester, Massachusetts

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker community in Worcester, Massachusetts.

After their original house on Castle Street burned in 1987, they spent a short time living with the Little Franciscans of Mary before moving to 52 Mason Street, where the community remains to this day.

Part of our work is sheltering homeless men and women. As I type this, one man and two women are staying with us. This is unusually small-scale hospitality for a Catholic Worker, but typically intimate; I share the breakfast table with these folks, and last night there was some recrimination about who is eating all the Corn Pops. (Me.)

The other part of our work is fighting for peace and justice. I like to say that we’re basically like the Super Friends, but with less powers. The Catholic Worker is a center of anti-war activity in Worcester, and down through the years has been a leading voice on local issues ranging from lead pollution to supporting Coach Williams. Members have organized lots of protests, done lots of jail time for civil disobedience, and gone on lots of peace missions to four continents.

Founders of the Saints Francis & Therese Catholic Worker community
The founding members of the SS. Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker. Back row: Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, Justin Duffy, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy. Front row: Carl Siciliano, Sarah Jeglosky, Dan Ethier.

The Catholic Worker is an anarchist movement. SS. Francis & Thérèse is not a non-profit corporation. The community receives no government money, and no financial support from the institutional church. (Although we get help from lots of individual clergy.)

Ken Hannaford-Ricardi, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy
The community in 2006: Ken Hannaford-Ricardi, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy. Photo by Mike Benedetti.

We support the work of the community by baking bread and begging. Members of the community also do freelance journalism, public speaking, and web design to pay the bills.

There is nothing in the way of hierarchy. The same folks who travel to exotic war zones also clean toilets. Four people are involved in the day-to-day decisions of the house, but dozens are part of the “extended community.”

Public reaction to the community has always been mixed. In 1997, when Dave Maciewski delivered medical supplies to Iraq in violation of sanctions, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette ran the subhead “Peace group beds down with Butcher of Baghdad.” On the other hand, about once a month I introduce myself to someone as a Catholic Worker, and the stranger responds, “Oh, Scott and Claire are my heroes!” In 2002, the T&G called Scott “Worcester’s most-traveled, most-jailed, and most notorious political radical since Abbie Hoffman,” which some would even consider a compliment.

My time here is coming to a close, but I would not be surprised if this community was still serving Worcester, and still pissing off meanspirited Worcesterites, in another 20 years.

We’re holding a Catholic Worker gathering July 2-4 in Worcester to celebrate the 20th anniversary. Details will be forthcoming.

You can call us at 508.753.3588, or e-mail theresecw@gmail.com.

South Bend Catholic Worker loses zoning battle

The South Bend Common Council has denied a zoning change to the Catholic Worker community there. WNDU-TV:

“We are looking forward to finding another house that’s properly zoned and continuing our work,” said [Margie] Pfeil. “We are hopeful that we can get a good price on our house and invest our money elsewhere.”
[…]
Starting Tuesday the Catholic Workers plan to move their five guests and three staff members south two streets to a house that the diocese gave to the organization years ago.

South Bend Tribune:

A last-minute effort to prolong the Catholic Worker house issue failed in a 5-4 vote. This was followed by an emotional 7-2 vote to deny the group’s overall rezoning petition.
[…]
There are no plans to pursue a lawsuit against the city, [Mike] Griffin said.

“Many have said we have a good case,” Griffin said. “But it’s also a Christian tradition at times to simply shake the dust from your sandals and move on.”

South Bend Catholic Worker DOESN’T lose zoning vote

Update: The South Bend Catholic Worker has a good chance of winning its zoning battle. The article cited below says that they “lost” yesterday’s zoning vote because it was a tie vote. But all this really means is that it will go to another vote at the next Common Council meeting, when the missing councilor will be there and break the tie.

When I was in SB a couple weeks ago, the feeling was that few people in power were willing to support the CW. So this tie vote represents powerful momentum. One hopes that they can work something out with those neighbors who oppose the zoning change, and get a 9-0 council vote on the compromise solution.

Here’s the story, via WNDU-TV:

A public hearing was held on whether to re-zone a Catholic group home and took nearly four hours Monday night. Ultimately, it was defeated due to a tie vote.

A tie vote is much better than people were expecting.
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